Czechia Archives and Libraries

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Czechia

Archives and Libraries

Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm.
If you plan to visit a repository, contact them and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees. Ask if they require you to have a reader’s ticket (a paper indicating you are a responsible researcher) to view the records, and ask how to obtain one.
Although the records you need may be in an archive or library, most of the Czechia records are now available online.

Prague Regional Archives

Regional Archives

Czech vital records are kept at the regional archives and most are available online.
There are eight regional archives.
The regional archives are the repositories for most pre-1900 parish books and, therefore, are the archives of primary importance to Czech genealogical researchers.
In addition to early parish books, the regional archives house an enormous amount of important material including early cadastral records, maps, architectural plans, historical documents, court records, administrative papers, etc.
You must know the village, city or parish to determine which archive holds the records of your ancestors.

If you do not know the name of the village or parish your ancestors lived in, see:

Czechia Finding Town of Origin, using United States records

Czechia Determining a Place of Origin

Czechia Emigration and Immigration

If you know the village/town/parish, use the GenTeam Free Gazetteer to find out which archive holds the records that you need. GenTeam Instructions

Wiki Articles for Each Regional Archive

Clickable Map of Archive Regions

Personal Visit to the Archives

The archives are accessible to the general public.
It is necessary to reserve a place in the study (or research) room in advance. You can call or write a letter/e-mail.
You are asked to fill out a questionnaire and to show your ID or passport when you arrive. Foreigners require no special permit.
There are special request forms on which to write the call numbers of the items requested. Material for research is retrieved only at certain times. *Laptops and digital cameras are allowed (you cannot use flash). Some restrictions may be imposed on picture taking depending on the content and physical condition of particular documents.
Archivists are available to answer questions about archival material. They will, however, not help with the research, read the text of the records or translate.
Please note that you may work with documents deposited for fewer than 30 years only exceptionally and only with the permission of the archive director.

District Archives

Since most ancestry research is done at the regional archives rather than the district archives, the inventories of the district archives are far from well known. For example, censuses before 1930 (1869, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1921) are housed at the district archives. Many census records are online

Czech Republic Censuses and Inhabitant Registers, 1800-1990 How to Use This Collection

Published Archival Directories

Inventories of vital records in the Czech Regional Archives have been published and are available through the Family History Library:

Dictionary of Bohemian parishes in the Czech Republic, FHL INTL Book 943.71 E22g
Register of vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Bohemia, FHL INTL Book 943.71 K23gg vol. 1-5
Register of Jewish vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Bohemia, FHL INTL Book 943.71 K33g
Dictionary of Moravian parishes in the Czech Republic, FHL INTL Book 943.72 E22g
Register of vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Moravia, FHL INTL Book 943.72 K23g vol. 1-2
Register of Jewish vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Moravia, FHL INTL Book 943.72 K33g vol. 1-2

Websites

Bavarian-Czech network of digital historical sources